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Travel has always been a priority with me, fortunately I found someone who shares, not only my love of travel, but my travel style. You see, we like to absorb a culture, not just pick up on what is being offered to us commercially. We stroll the streets and neighborhoods, we seek out local flavor, we want to live in the green spaces. Concrete is not our friend, and doing what everyone else is doing? That is so not us. We sometimes call it speed touring, we cover a lot of miles when we travel, in our quest to see it all, sometimes you have to keep moving.

Because we are observers of life, we pick up on things that most don’t. We eavesdrop on conversations, not deliberately, but just to know where people’s heads are. As we walked the streets of Boston last week, it would have been so much fun to have a tape recorder just to catch the snippets. Things overheard included these types of words:

“So exactly where does the Underground Railroad come out?” heard outside the African American Meeting House.

“No, I have my phone off, that way when I turn it on and see some text messages, I can feel good about myself. If it’s on all day and no one texts me, that will make me feel bad, so I only turn it on when I choose to.” Heard on a walking path in a National Park.

People amaze me some days, some in their stupidity – yes, I said it; others in their lack of interest in what is around them. Most in their self absorbance. I’m not perfect by any means, if you ever hear my husband say with a sweet lilt, “I looove you,” and he’s laughing, it’s because I have let my inner blonde show again. It happens often, my brain just doesn’t absorb a pattern around me, I am always lost, I read signs the way I want to read them, not necessarily how they are written. These kinds of things happen a lot.

But, I digress, my point is that travel is important. Get off the beaten path, look at the neighborhoods, look at the lives being lived. Talk to people, ask them why, show an interest. Our favorite parts are when we get to hear someone’s story. When I started writing in 2011, it was because we were travelling full time, that was the start of our real story. That was when I realized we could share with others some of the cool things that we see. My blog was Trippin’ the Americas, it is still active, and going to be more so. We still see some amazing things, we still eat at some amazing places and take some great photos. I will be featuring places to eat and things to see, roads to travel. My goal is posting twice a week there and twice a week here, but I could use your help getting my readership up. Stop over and see what we see, it will be undergoing a facelift soon, but the posts are still good and easy to find.

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My birthday weekend was epic; for me at least: I got to dress fancy; be part of something bigger than myself; see 100+ friends; laugh loud and often; remember some folks I haven’t heard from in awhile; celebrate the 10/4 birthday club. It was awesome!

Now, I have a few days under my belt and I’ve spent them thinking about what comes next. I am 50 now, no more fifty in 365, I’m on the downhill side (as my sister so eloquently put it.) So how do I continue 50 in 365?? About a month ago I wrote down a dozen plus ideas, now it is time to narrow them.

One of the best parts of the past year was learning new things, I didn’t master any of them, but I got to try a bunch. Being introduced to new skills, new ideas has always been one of my favorite things. So Goal #1 – Try 50 new things – the difference this year is that I’m going to try to master at least five of them. No more just testing the waters, let’s find some new things to try that we can actually get good at.

Second best part of last year was going to new places. Our world is so big and bold; Goal #2, Go to and Explore 50 new places. I’ve already started making a list of places I’d like to go, this truly is one of the best things about our lifestyle!

New goal for the year is to do 50 new projects; I would expect these will turn mostly in to craft projects, but I’m ok with that. I love to craft, I would love to be an artist, but I am not inventive enough to start from scratch. So crafting it will have to be. In addition, I’ve got some big ideas I want to pursue…it’s time to go confidently in the direction of my dreams.

Goal #4 is also similar to something I’ve done for the last six years, to read 50 books, only this year, it’s going to be 50 new authors. New to me at least, I have a habit of reading the same authors repeatedly, and while I am not going to turn my back on my favorites, my goal is to read 50 new authors in addition to the ones I follow.

A couple of other things on my list include writing 50 chapters in a book; sending 50 cards; and continuing to write in my blog. I’m hoping to introduce you to a life well-lived, a family well-loved and a writer well-humbled by the folks who read her. Here’s to LIVING 50 in 365!

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It’s been a month since I wrote anything at all. Not just posted, but wrote. I have had a severe case of writer’s block, not sure it’s over yet…but I have to start somewhere. I have a dozen things to write about, but my process has let me down, so I haven’t begun. Fortunately, at least for me, I wrote down the initial idea, now if I can just get the feeling back that I had when I was experiencing it, that would be awesome.

Maybe my process is flawed, but I have always found that if the first three sentences are written in my head before I sit down at the computer, the rest will flow. Not so this past month. Nothing has been in my head, so it doesn’t even occur to me to sit down and write. I’ve been on my computer plenty, but that is just work related, marking things off my ever changing list of things to do. No writing, no creative thoughts, no fun.

I love writing, I miss it. I miss knowing that someone may read what I have to say. It is satisfying to have “readers”, even more so to have “fans.” It makes me sad to think I’m missing out. But I’ve done it to myself. I’ve had my blog for just over 200 days, I have some subscribers, some regular readers, but not a lot. Most of my reads are referred from Facebook, where I have a few friends and Big has even more. So, I disappointed myself when a friend suggested I read someone else’s blog and I realized that a 17 year old had 10+ times as many followers as I did, and she had just begun her blog. It kind of depressed me. What was I doing wrong? And I have just realized, that I am doing nothing wrong. We all have different influences, different circles…I am happy in mine, I just needed to remember that.

Another of life’s lessons, a reminder that I’m not in competition with others, I am my own voice. I write for my satisfaction, not that of others. Like I said, it is satisfying to have readers and fans, but not necessary for the process. This isn’t about who is more popular, this is about recording my life, my observations, my experiences. If you enjoy them, I thank you, stick with me, we are going to continue to have a good time and experience life to the fullest. Life is a journey, I need to remember to Create the Life I Imagine…thanks for helping me with that.